Doctor's appointment.

It was very easy to say that we will make an appointment with a doctor, however, we are not registered with one! After 10 years in London for your dad, and 5 years for your mom, we've had the good fortune not to have needed one.
So, firstly it is a trip down to the doctor's practice to get registered. Clearly the nurse at the reception does not believe us when we tell her that we've not registered with any GP's previously!

Eventually when Alessandra gets an appointment she is met by a very nice South African lady doctor. After she enquires what she can do for your mom, she explains that we've done a pharmacy test that was positive, but would like confirmation. "Oohhhh!"... she exclaims... "congratulations! You are pregnant!" Not believing what she is hearing, Alessandra wants to know if there are any other tests required? Nope, it seems that the doctor's have more faith in Boots the Pharmacy than what we have!

Afterwards they discuss which hospital should they register us with for the birth, and it is decided that it will be St. Thomas's Hospital in Central London. With a cheery instruction to wait for the hospital letter which will tell us when the first scan will be, the visit is over and Alessandra is shown out of the door.

This is not what we expected! On the movies it is all about doctor's in white coats taking blood tests just to afterwards inform you, conclusively, that you are pregnant. Not a £2.50 stick with two pink lines on it!

So, Alessandra decides, even though it is very early days, to give the good news to your grandmom over the phone. Again, this is not the ideal way to do it as she would've preferred to do it personally. Practically it is for the best as she can then arrange for a proper scan to be done when we visit Italy in three week's time for the wedding of Alessandra's friends, Daniele and Ilaria.

For the mean time though, there is nothing to do but wait...

Two lines!

For the last few weeks we've had the suspicion that you might be with us already. So, today, Sunday 9 May 2010, is the day to find out! For lunch we meet up with an old friend of your dad, Gudrun and her new boyfriend. It is really agonising not being able to tell anyone about the possibility of being pregnant, but this would really be to tempt fate!

After lunch we quickly pop into the pharmacy Boots in Clahpham Junction to buy the normal off-the-shelve pregnancy tests. It is a very long bus journey home as we are so excited and simply cannot wait to have certainty at last!
After a quick trip to the toilet the big moment is here...and the test shows a clear, positive TWO LINES!

Overcome with emotion, we decide not to get too ahead of ourselves. Out comes a second test and again appear the two lines! It is clear, we are going to be parents! Again we remind ourselves that it is just a pharmacy test and agree that first thing on Monday we will make an appointment with the doctor to get it properly confirmed.

For the moment though, we are out of our skins with excitement! It calls for celebration, and as alcohol and champagne are out of the question now, we can think of only one suitable alternative: a nice cup of tea!

Settling in.

To say that we are happy with our house is an understatement! Suddenly we have wonderful little problems like not having enough furniture... especially as we've moved from a one bedroom flat to a three bedroom house!

Slowly though we are starting to settle in and make it our own, enjoying every second of it.

The house is located between Clapham Common and Clapham South tube station, in the south western part of London. Further out are the areas of Balham and Tooting, making it a nice green, leafy area with Clapham Common (a common being a park where your dad is from!) and Tooting Bec Common nearby.

Right, time for the next lesson about your parents: gardening, for the beginning at least, will be a bit of a challenge for them! This is because your dad grew up in what is practically a dessert and your mom starts most things very enthusiastically just to suddenly lose all interest! This means that your very non-green-fingered dad is left with all the gardening to do!

 

2010 is also a memorable year for another reason: your granddad Gianfranco is turning 70 this year! Below is a picture of us at his birthday party which was held in Ristorante Al Crivelli in the village of Rho, just outside Milan.
Look carefully at the picture, especially your mom's flat tummy. Deep inside is something none of us even knows about it... YOU!